"Kenya Burns Vast Piles Of Elephant Tusks As It Seeks Ban On Trade"

"Kenya's president set fire to thousands of elephant tusks and rhino horns on Saturday, destroying a stockpile that would have been worth a fortune to smugglers and sending a message that trade in the animal parts must be stopped.

Plumes of smoke rose as the flames took hold of tusks piled up in a game reserve on the edge of the capital Nairobi, destroying 105 tonnes of ivory from about 8,000 animals, the biggest ever incineration of its kind.

President Uhuru Kenyatta dismissed those who argued Kenya, which staged its first such burning in 1989, should instead have sold the ivory and the tonne of rhino horn, which by some estimates would have an illegal market value of $150 million."

Ben Makori reports for Reuters April 30, 2016.

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"Up In Flames: Kenya Burns More Than 100 Tons Of Ivory" (NPR)